Nels Cline is one of the most versatile, imaginative and original guitarists active today. Combining breathtaking technique with an informed musical intelligence, Cline displays a mastery of guitar expression that encompasses delicate lyricism, sonic abstractions, and skull-crunching flights of fancy, inspiring Jazz Times to call him "The World's Most Dangerous Guitarist."
Born in Los Angeles in 1956, his earliest musical influences included Roger McGuinn, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, John Fahey ...

He calls his ensemble The Jeff Gauthier Goatette to institutionalize the lifelong humiliation of his childhood nickname. Gauthier's musical universe was exploded at an early age by influences as diverse as J.S. Bach, Igor Stravinsky, Olivier Messiaen, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Ralph Towner, John McLaughlin, and King Crimson.
The core of the Goatette has been together since 1991, and Gauthier has been performing and recording with brothers Nels and Alex Cline since...

Born on November 26, 1915 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the young Wild displayed extraordinary musical ability from the age of three. By the time he was six years of age, he was reading music fluently and before his twelfth birthday, he was studying with the famous teacher, Selmar Janson.
Earl Wild was then placed into a programme for artistically gifted young people at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon University). Still in his early teens, Wild began playing piano and celest...

For more than 30 years, the Kronos Quartet, David Harrington, John Sherba (violins), Hank Dutt (viola) and Jeffrey Zeigler (cello), has pursued a singular artistic vision, combining a spirit of fearless exploration with a commitment to expanding the range and context of the string quartet. In the process, Kronos has become one of the most celebrated and influential groups of our time, performing thousands of concerts worldwide, releasing more than 40 recordings of extraordinary breadth and creat...

From his early days as a drummer to his current status as one of the top-drawing guitarists and vocalists on the blues-rock scene, Montoya earned his status through years of hard work and constant touring. And it all started with a chance meeting in the mid-1970s with legendary bluesman Albert Collins, who offered Montoya a gig as his drummer. Albert took an immediate liking to Montoya, becoming his mentor and teaching his new protégé the secrets of Collins' "icy hot" style of blues guitar. Fi...